Daily Scripture:
Romans 9:24 that is, to us, whom he called not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hoshea,
“Those who were not my people I will call my people;
her who was not loved I will call loved;
26 and in the very place where they were told,
‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called sons of the living God!”[Romans 9:26 Hosea 2:25 (23), 2:1(1:10)] (Complete Jewish Bible).
Ephesians 2:14 For he himself is our shalom — he has made us both one and has broken down the m’chitzah which divided us 15 by destroying in his own body the enmity occasioned by the Torah, with its commands set forth in the form of ordinances. He did this in order to create in union with himself from the two groups a single new humanity and thus make shalom, 16 and in order to reconcile to God both in a single body by being executed on a stake as a criminal and thus in himself killing that enmity. (Complete Jewish Bible).
Reflection Questions: At the end of Black Panther, T’Challa vowed eloquently that Wakanda would no longer isolate itself from the world and its problems. “In times of crisis,” he said, “the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” In Paul’s world, there were high barriers between Gentiles and Jews. Paul had lived out that bias (cf. Galatians 1:13-14). There was a real wall in the Temple in Jerusalem. “Interpretations of purity laws resulted in Gentiles being excluded from the court of Israel (for Jewish men) and even the less pure court of women (for Jewish women).”*
- The angry young Pharisee Saul, who approved of stoning the Gentile Christian Stephen (cf. Acts 7:54-8:1), became the apostle Paul, who wrote, “Christ is our peace. He made both Jews and Gentiles into one group.” What changed him? Do you see any difference between peace as a human effort based on “splitting differences” and weighing interests, and peace based on who Jesus is and who you are in him? Is one more lasting than the other?
- All major world faiths (including ours) attract some people who nurture a sense of hatred and grievance, and call for violence against those of other faiths. How can you differentiate those in any faith who seek to build walls from those who wish to tear down walls and create more goodwill, peace and cooperation? What attitudes and actions show that you belong to the “one body” (Ephesians 2:16) Jesus came to create?
* HarperCollins Christian Publishing. NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, eBook: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture (Kindle Locations 268229-268232). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Katie is a summer intern at Resurrection Downtown. This is her second year at Resurrection Downtown serving within KiDSCOR. She is passionate about kids and showing them unconditional love, and she is majoring in elementary education at Emporia State University. She is from Hutchinson, Kansas, but has found a love for the city. Katie shows Jesus’ love through acts of service and spending quality time with others, and her goal is to teach in an inner-city school.
"If you love only those who love you, what reward do you have?"
People make mistakes. God tells us to love others even if they have made mistakes. I think the majority of us can agree that this is the proper and Christian thing to do, but are we all actually following through with this?
We should be using God as our prime example to follow. Time and time again we sin, we take his love for granted, and yet he still loves us unconditionally. A more down-to-earth group of individuals that is a wonderful example of “loving everyone” is kids. Kids are so forgiving. The majority of kids will love each other and adults wholeheartedly. Working in KidsCOR and having experience in the classroom, I have seen kids from all different backgrounds come together and love one another.
Kids are also very resilient, especially with one another. Most of them do not hold grudges after they fight. If you have ever watched two toddlers play together you’ll see them playing, someone will take a toy from another, there are maybe a few tears, and then they are back to playing together. Personally, working with kids continually changes my life. Kids teach adults much more than we give them credit for.
Why is it that as we get older our resilience with others gets slimmer? Is it all the life experience--the heartbreaks we have dealt with?
Unfortunately, I don’t have a definite answer. Frankly, I don’t think anyone does. All I know is making mistakes is a part of life and a part of being a human. I would say the majority of people don’t purposely try to make mistakes, and most people don’t like how it feels when we make a mistake. Confronting errors we have made is challenging and taking responsibility for our mistakes is even harder.
As you are going though this week, I challenge you to be like a kid. Choose to be resilient with others, love more, and forgive yourself. Changing the way you think about and treat others can change your attitude, and will bring you closer to being like Jesus.
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You might also like:
- Confronting past errors
- Confronting Communion
- “You get to decide”
- Grace: the environment for growing
- Prayer Tip: Hiding in Plain Sight
- Or download this week's printable GPS.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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